Treatment of tires.



R.' B.- PRICE.

TREATMENT 0F TIRES.

APPuc/mqn man MAR. 2o. 1915. V f 1,2%,41 1 y PatentedAug. 20, 191.8.

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RAYMOND E. PRICE, OE NEW YORK, N. Y., Ass'IGNOR To RUBBER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OE INDIANA.

Tas PATEN O REGENERATING 'f TREATMENT 0F TIRES.

Original applicationvled October 9, 191.2, Serial No. 724,874. Divided 1915. Serial No. 15,768.

My invention relates to the treatment of articles embodying rubber, rubberlike, and similar materials, and' to 'articles produced by this treatment, and contemplates more particularly the subjection of articles of this character to a vacuum during the filling of a mold by which they are pressed into finalform, the present application, therefore, be-` ing a divisional application of my former application filed October 9, 1912, Serial Number 724,874. Hitherto in the manufacture of sucharticles, as for instance, in the production of tires and the like, it has `been customary to a ply the raw or green rubber or like materia to a fibrous base or even to a metalv base, and impart final form` and vulcanization to the article by the closing ofv a mold thereon duringv an application of heat and pressure. rDuring this mold -cure it was found that entrapped air, gases, fluids, and .the like, caused said rubber or like material to blow or become porous and also produced an imperfect union between the base of the article and the rubber, rubberlike, or similar material.

The object of the present invention therefore, is to so treat such an article during or immediately preceding the imparting of final formation and vulcanization to the same, as to remove or withdraw the entrapped air, gases', or other deleterious fluids froml and about the rubber or other like material and its base, thus preventing the formation of cells, voids, bllsters, and the like,

and at the same time securing a better bond and its base. p

In the present embodiment of my invention I support the. article, as for instance, a tire which includes unvulcanized rubber or othervsimilar material, on the Outside .of a rigid support, whichv latter, in the case of a pneumatic tire or casing, wlll be a ring core, or in the case of a solid tire, will be a metal base, and subject said article toa vacuum. This vacuumV I preferably apply Specification of Letters Patent.

to compact the tire.

- Patented Aug. 20, 1918.

and this application led March 20,

while the article thus supported is inclosed 1n a partly open, rigid mold, by the closing of which final form is tobe subsequently given to the article, 'the condition of the mold permitting of trapped eair, gases, or

other fluids, under'the action of the vacuum.

the escape of the-en- The Vacuum may be applied prior to, or

during the pressure cure-of the article and 1s preferably ,performed in the presence' of heat, which warms up the article and urges the entrapped air, gases, or other fluids, to expand and work out more rapidly under the efforts of ther left by the entrapped air, close up more rapidly than when the article is cold. This warming up of the article may, however, be performed prior .to the application of the vacuum.

One method of carrying the invention into efI-ect visillustrated in the accompanying drawing in connection with an apparatus for the pressure cure of tires.

The figure is a sectional elevation lof the apparatus showing tires inclosed in a mold and press. Y o

In the manufacture of pneumatic casings or tires, itis customary to initially build the tire on a rigid ring-core 10, the same preferably having an imperforate exterior of sufficient rigidity to resist the subsequent application of pressure during the cure of the tire in a' press, which latter is here indicated in general by the numeral 11. Such a tire, as shown at 12, is composed of rubber, rubberlike, or similar material, applied in part to a'brous base, such as fabric, and usually termed the carcass of the tire. l The tire supported upon its core is then inclosed in a mold 13, which preferably is formed of sections that ultimately are closed by the press and act in conjunction with the-core In the case of solid tires, the rubber, rubberlike, or similar material 18, in an unvulcanized condition, of course, is supported upon a metal base 19, and thus supported, isinclosed in the mold- 13, as above described.

In all cases the mold with the tire therein,

is placed'within the vulcanizin chamber 14 vacuum, while the voids.

i or through spaces tire by closing of the mold.

a controllable connection 16, a heat medium,

For carrying out the invention, l provide a controllable conne V,tion 17 which connects the vulcanizing chamber with `a suction Pump may be exhausted and the tire subjected to a vacuum through thefopenedv mold sections, between the sections in caseY the mold is purposely made to close iinperfectly for this purpose.

`In carrying out the process the vacuum isexerted through a sufficient period of time to extract the entrapped air, gases, andl other deleterious fluids from the tire, this period necessarily varying for the dierent grades of rubber, rubberlike, or Similar material used in diderent tires.

v Preferably the vacuum step is carried out prior to the vulcanizing pressure step, but may becarried out during the last named step so that the tire is vulcanized in the required nal form simultaneously with the removal of air, gases, and like fluids therefrom.

Under certain to warm the tire during the vacuum step, or even step, whereby the rubber, ilar material of y he tire is softened and the conditions it is desirable the application of before the vacuum entrapped air or gases or other Vfluids exv panded and urged out more rapidly through theI softened stock under the efforts of the vacuum than when the article, .is cold. .During this warming step the temperature of the heat medium is' preferably kept below the vulcanizing temperature, or temperature at which the plastic material ofthe tire begins to lose its plasticity. v

Under certain conditions it maybe desirable to intermittently apply the vacuum step'and pressure step whereby pressure on the mold sections. may be slackened at times toallow the mold to partly open and thus whereby the interior of the chamber -and other fluids by rubberlike or Simvulcanizer,

' pressure of rigid mold Sign promotethe exit of the air, gases, and other -fiuids under the suction of the vacuum.

While ll have described certain` preferredl y A sequences 'at which the various heat-ing, vacuum, and pressure steps of the process may be carried out, I do not intend to limit myself to any specified sequences. v

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to have protected by Letters Patent is:

1. The process of manufacturing tires which consists of assembling thev materials placing' the tires in open molds in4 a vulcanizer, thereafter extracting entrapped air, gases, and other fluids by means of reduced pressure exerted substantially over the entire assembled material closing the molds and vulcanizing, whereby the tires are given final formation under compacting pressure of rigid mold walls.

y2.' rlhe process of manufacturing `tires composed `of rubber or rubber-like plastic ,and fiber, which consists in assembling the same in predetermined relationship, placing the tires in open molds in a vulcanizer, thereafter extracting entrapped air, gases,

means of reduced pressure exerted lsubstantially over the entire assembled material, closing the molds and vulcanizing, whereby the tires are given final formation under compacting pressure of rigid mold walls. c,

3. rl`he process of manufacturing tires composed of rubber or rubber-like material and fiber, whichl consists in assembling the sameplacing the tires lin open molds .ina air, gases,'and other elevated temperature by means of reduced pressure exerted substantially over the entire assembled material, closing the molds vand vulcanizing, .whereby the tires are given .final 'formation under Ycompacting walls. ed at New York city, county York, and State .of New York, this day of March, 1915.`

RAYMUND l PRlGlE.

sf 'New iatv thereafter extracting entrapped Y fluids therefrom at an 

